Mary Emma Ackels Karam

Much Has Changed, but Issues Remain the Same

As I mentor and visit with women in the legal profession today, I find they struggle with issues similar to the ones faced by women decades ago. Many firms still struggle as before with getting women and underrepresented talent through to partnership. But there are reasons to be encouraged.

March 28, 2025 Mary Emma Ackels Karam

Inspired Long Before I Became a Lawyer

In this personal essay, Jackson Walker healthcare partner Mary Emma Ackels Karam revisits small but impactful scenes of her own personal family history and reflects on how one family member — her mother — was instrumental in shaping Karam into the wife, mother, lawyer and mentor to other women that she is today.

Pictured: Karam (far left) circa 1987 with her parents, Isabel and Lawrence Ackels, and nine siblings.

March 25, 2024 Mary Emma Ackels Karam